The new rules retain many of the current rules’ core requirements, but expand certain obligations and impose requirements on debt research activities for the first time.

On August 26, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) issued two Regulatory Notices announcing the effective dates for new equity and debt research rules recently approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). New FINRA Rule 2241 (the New Equity Research Rule) modifies and consolidates current NASD Rule 2711 and Incorporated NYSE Rule 472 with respect to equity research activities (the Legacy Equity Research Rules), and new FINRA Rule 2242 (the Debt Research Rule) adopts — for the first time — rules applicable to debt research analysts and debt research reports.